Rest In Peace

Ella Mae Menard, my last grandparent, passed away this morning at 6:25 AM. I don't know what the official papers will say her cause of death was. I know that she died of a broken heart.

My grandmother has had medical problems for years but she didn't begin the long, slow slide to the end until my grandfather passed away on December 18, 2006. Almost one year to the day of his admission to the hospital Grandma was first admitted to Christus St. John's Hospital. She was admitted again the end of December 2007 and spent her last birthday in her hospital room.

Today she lost her fight. She went peacefully. Her passing was restful and quiet, filled with the dignity and peace she always tried to conduct herself with in life.

She was a strong woman in all the ways that counted... and in some that were annoying to those that loved her most. (She and I butted heads many times over the years. My hard headedness came, in a large part, from her. I was the grandchild that... errr... challenged her the most. Heh)

She was a good wife and mother. She was a great grandparent. She was a better person.

She wasn't perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination, but she tried so hard to do the right things for those she loved.

We'll all miss you Grandma. Rest easy now. Give Grandpa a hug for me when you see him again.

Ella Mae Menard

December 25, 1922 - March 14, 2008